Editing and slideshows.....

Yesterday I had a tutorial with James which was OK, its definitely a challenge everyone giving us their own take on how we should do our book........He talked about the importance of starting with strong photos maybe then describing the process....And suggests I take the portraits for the start of the book.
Then I went to see two kids to choose their photos for the slideshow - of course then we find out neither of them can come (I asked my translator to check BEFORE I booked the room....very frustrating). However the parents can come so what we will do is then go over to their house early Sunday to show the kids in their house. The afternoon was spent learning how to make dumplings and meeting some of the parents I have seen many pictures of but never actually met! It was great talking to them finally, both sets of parents have spent time in Europe and are pretty open minded so it was nice to talk. I was not very good at making dumplings though! The fathers both joined in the dumpling making process, it was definitely a family affair! Then we had a big meal......

Panic sets in!

Ok last night we had a meeting about finishing in December and I felt like nothing was ever going to be ready etc after that AAARGHHHHHH! We have so much to do, get the essay introduction for a writer to help us with, design the book, more editing, figure out how to print (will use lulu but now not sure it will be back on time......having complete nightmares). Went out for a meal with everyone from the course but couldn't enjoy it all I could think about was how much work I have to do and whether I can do it.
I slept badly worrying about it, but then got up and was scared about my tutorial - but it was ok, Dave thinks I can do it all in time hooray! I told him how much of my essay is done etc and he said I should finish. We will graduate in Feb, and we can attend a ceremony in the UK or in Hong Kong! I will be one of the first MA Photography graduates as not that many of us will finish. So I felt much better. The book is really taking shape and I met 4 kids today, went for lunch with two of them then met two to do their slide show which I can edit later.
We have a lecture soon no rest for the wicked.......

Book covers

Went and got some prints done, including one of a page and was really pleased so far...... I can sit and play with the prints later to look better at layouts etc. I was up late again last night (Lauren was telling me off from the UK!!!!) designing book covers, I have 3, two of which I am really happy with but they took soooo much work - the other ones basic design will be used as a page in the book. I am learning so much about photoshop, I am so lucky Christine is here because she has helped me learn how to use rulers etc to keep things straight, and helped me get the pictures exactly the right size - I hadn't quite figured that one out! I have the book but its so much easier and quicker for me to learn if someone shows me once. I emailed Lauren one of the covers and she liked it, will try and reduce the size of the other one and send it too - I will get people to vote maybe! Anyway, back to it.....

China unblocks my blog!

Ooooh just tried to access my blog and this time I got in!!! Blogger is back in China, maybe whatever I said wasn't that bad after all!

Having photoshop nightmares!!!!!!

Yesterday I finished sorting out references for the obesity chapter and I have 3700 words total so far........
I also started to put a template together for the book, trying out different layouts and stuff. It seems to take ages, deciding which photos to use then getting them the right size.....but I think, after moments of panic at the start where I could not put any photos on the pages(!) I finally called Christine and discovered a way, which I eventually got to work.....Hooray! Have made 2 covers and have a third idea which I will try out later.

My brain hurts!

So today I have been concentrating on my essay hooray! I have written over 1600 words today, it took ages to organise the information on obesity so this was the part I was dreading and I am nearly finished! Hooray! I had a short break for hot pot but then have just finished at 2334. Not much else to write today, my brain hurts!

More slideshow stuff!

Today I had two lessons, one where I finished off with 2 of the kids and they chose the 25 photos to make their slide show. They each gave me an mp3 of their favourite music too, one had done a kind of karaoke and the other mixed a voiceover with her favourite piano piece. Then in the afternoon I went over and met another 2 children, one of whom had just returuned from a trip to Shanghai to see her sister. Their photos were really good, the girl is only 10 but she has done really well. She also had a series of short video clips which were quite funny! Then this evening I have made 2 slideshows for the 2 who have finished and am now just looking where to get back in to my essay!!!! So, better go back to it!

Fun, fun, fun!

So today I went back to see Renbo and NiuNiu for their second lesson - what a pair! They also had two other friends over and we looked through their photos from last week - Renbo's mum was very apologetic because there were so many butt shots (clothed) - actually, the last two days when I have been into Baisheng to pick up my films and they have shown me the first few from each film they have done a real 'double take' as if to figure out why a woman has taken such photos - but of course I have no way of explaining - and another 3 films potentially of butt shots to process! LOL! Oh joy......Anyway, we all sat on the sofa to look at the photos then the boys played the piano for me (I recorded some on IMovie to make an MP3) and then they invited me to watch them and then join them playing car games on the computer which was lots of fun. Then, as myself and Wang Meng were shown photos of Europe by Renbo's mother, the four boys chased each other around the house taking photographs and there was a lot of laughing involved - when he was then looking at the photos on the digital camera, NiuNiu saw one of himself laughing and erupted into insane laughter for about 15 minutes without stopping!
This evening there has been more editing, it feels like the edit is neverending......

Editing

This evening I have been doing loads of editing again, I have 3 more films to pick up tomorrow and then will also be able to take 3 more to be developed tomorrow.......So then there will be more editing and also the digital stuff I will get on Sunday! I see the Sunday kids one more time, then Ray twice more and the Saturday boys 3 more times.......I think I may have the cover shot, am going to start working on the cover design too. Still feeling good, I think I may well be finished on time, although I hear the UK students have a hand in of April 23rd and we don't graduate until next July. I have just been reflecting on the whole process and the ups and downs, initially more downs but now more ups!

The internet - again!

Ggrrrrr the internet is going slow!!!! Today I went to drop off more films and then went to talk to the place that made my Inner Mongolia book to see how much a paperback book would cost. They say they can do a 10 x 8 book for 200RMB with 30 pages. Hmmmm I hope I can get stuff to Lulu in time, I am not sure I want the book printed here at all. Also helped Christine find a studio set up, I might borrow this to make portraits of my kids this weekend! It is a cool set up, 2 lights (flash lights) with umbrellas and it is fairly easy to set up and carry round........I need to play with it first though.....Am just on the net looking at articles in yahoo.

Slideshows....

So it looks like in a few weeks I can do a slideshow for the kids, I am just waiting for them to all confirm a date that they can make. I have put together a small slideshow to show my class tomorrow, which I am fairly pleased with. And my website has some of the photos on too (a mission and a half considering I have dial up!). I will take more films to be developed tomorrow....

Slide show

Today went really well, the kids are pleased with their progress. It was quite funny in the second lesson, both kids had gone to Xinghai Park separately and had had a few of the same ideas! Today I talked with them about planning a slide show, and asking them to prepare something to record onto mp3 for a slide show to be held at the medical university. They seem pretty excited and I also asked if I can put their photos on my website, which I am just trying to do now - site has been down for a bit for the admin side and is now going really slow......but I am persevering. I have been preparing photos all afternoon from the edits I have done, then next weekend we will edit together. So far so good!

Hooray - the new kids are great!

Today I met two new kids, one boy who is 12 one is 10. The 12 year old speaks great English and was a lot of fun! Then his friend arrived and the 2 of them chased each other round the house taking photographs of each other! The younger boy was funny, he also played the piano (they did rock, paper, scissors to decide which one would play for us.......) and was great! I really enjoyed teaching them and was there for 2 hours....The boys were able to ask questions, and they picked it up really quick! I also already have a film from each of them to develop already!

The internet is falling in!

So this week have had loads of internet problems ggggrrrrr yahoo and msn crashing, not seeing this blog etc. Anyway the photos continue to come in and are great, I have done a little more on my essay...........All going well at present - meeting 2 more kids this afternoon.......
I also talked to someone about resolution, they think we can fix it hooray!

Resolution............

Just when things go well.......they take a turn.....So I was on lulu.com trying to check the size for the book....and I noticed the poart where it talks about the photos needing to be 300dpi. OK I thought, most are film so thats ok I can get them scanned. And the rest have been taken on my 6MP camera and the kids have been taking max size.....NOOOOOOOOOO! SO my casio camera is on the best setting and they photos are only 72 dpi. The kids cameras have been 180 and 96 dpi even when set to different amounts of MP....... The only ones that are OK are the ones taken on my d70 and the film ones which I will get rescanned......So you learn something new every day.
Talked to Glynis earlier, it was great to chat to someone else doing a participatory project. She is going through lots of the same issues as me....I felt much better after. We also talked about timing and when the book needs to be in. She has seen a book made by lulu.com and says its ok.

The essay is coming along......

So halfway through our 6 weeks and I have about half the essay written and lots more in my head.....Finally I feel like it is do-able!

Back to being good - and the essay is taking shape!

Well today - despite being pissed off about getting up early to leave at 830 on a Sunday morning, things took a good turn today! The first two kids were still enthusiastic and we talked a lot about issues of school, homework and what they do outside school, favourite subjects etc, then played a game. We did a lot about technique too, which was cool, they are both learning fast. talked also about the differences between their photos, the girl has mainly taken portraits of her father, as well as some photographs around her school and home. The boy again had lots of his friends, then a few of his mother but lots of buildings and cars. Then it was off to the medical school for the next lesson, these two are exceptional. They are both using digital so can see the results.....BUT again the girl had reset her camera and the pics are really small (but so good), so we had a long talk about what image size means and reset her camera again. It was hard as my translator lost it a bit in translation but then I realised actually the girl understood when I showed her something on a website! Her photos were lots of experimenting with close up/far away, with small glimpses into her home life in between. She responded well to the praise given, and I later discovered that the first week she had not wanted to come but had discovered she really enjoyed it and wants to do more. SUCCESS!!!! I told her the image size is really important as I want the book to be A4 landscape and her photos would look great as a whole page.......The boys photos were an interesting collection of buildings and plants, with a few small glimpses into his home life. He is very articulate and has been great, he has also been taking a few short videos (including me singing twinkle twinkle last week lol), and shots of our lessons.
I spent the afternoon writing lots and looking out what I did for the last essay to expand on......so hopefully I will get going and get loads more done over the next few days. Am also contemplating indesign.........We shall see. Lulu.com now have a photo book available which looks even easier.......

Getting annoyed

Well today was going well but then the 2 new kids cancelled last minute as the parents would not be home in time.....instead of finding out if they would be there later, it got cancelled. I tried to make it clear that I only have 2 more weekends left and it may be too late for them to start..........Then I got a barrage of text messages - what are you planning to teach the kids tomorrow? (ummm photography) - you need to make the lessons more interesting and make them talk to you about other things. Maybe read them a story. (????????????) Why do you just talk about the photos they have taken and photography, why not teach them English? Why aren't you teaching about technique more (well some have only ever taken 2 rolls of film, and actually thats part of dicussing the photos). I really am getting tired of trying to explain my project. Just as I think I have done it well something falls apart like today and I wonder why on earth I am doing this to myself.

Feeling good

Well went back to see one student this evening, looked at his and some of the other kids work and discussed it. I feel like things are going well. I have just also been rechecking all the other participatory photography sites and writing down more information for my essay...........I may have 3 new students also, I see two tomorrow and maybe the other one on Sunday.

The writing goes on.....

The last few days have been quiet really, just getting stuff together. I have taught 2 classes of mine and we talked about obesity in China to see what they thought - one class initially said it was not a problem, but the other class had a bit of a discussion about it. (Well as much as ever anyway!) I have also been editing photos and choosing a few, along with trying toi figure out indesign - I think I definately need to get Christine to help me get started there!